Chapter Fourteen – Charlie
“Are we going home now?” Sally asked as they left Julius’s office. She was high on sugar and Christmas as she skipped down the hallway.
“Yes, we’re going home now.” Charlie paused. He could sense her. Penny was close.
“Charlie?” Sally pulled his hand and he started walking again. “You look weird. Like the time I ate too many cookies and got sick.”
“I’m not sick,” Charlie assured her.
Lovesick, his lion added helpfully.
“Is she here?” Sally asked.
“Penny? Yes, she is. I’m pretty sure she’s very close.” He looked down at Sally. “Want to help me find her?”
“Yes.” Sally pulled him forward. “Penny looked kind of sad before.”
“She had some bad news before we picked you up from school.” They entered the hotel lobby and he looked around, his eyes instantly falling on his mate who was waiting at the front desk.
“Is she checking out?” Sally asked in a hushed tone.
“I don’t know.” Maybe her mom and dad had told her to come home so they could deal with Laurence together.
“Are we going to go say hi?” Sally asked.
“She looks busy.” But he couldn’t let Penny walk out of here without saying something, without trying to convince her to come back. Or to take him with her. “Come on.”
They crossed the lobby, dodging past a couple of kids who were playing chase. Christmas was a wonderful time for kids, and they often got overexcited. Charlie didn’t envy any parent who decided to stay in a hotel at this time of year.
“Penny!” Sally’s voice rang out clear across the room and Penny stopped talking to Vanessa behind the desk and turned to watch Sally and Charlie approach.
“Hi there.” She smiled brightly, then her eyes locked with Charlie’s.
Something has changed, his lion stated.
Something had changed. Penny looked at him with a knowing expression. Had someone told her about him? Had someone told her about shifters?
“We knew you were here,” Sally told Penny. “Charlie could sense you.”
“Sally, we should keep our voices down,” Charlie told Sally. She knew all about Charlie being a shifter and knew she had to be discreet, but occasionally she slipped up, particularly if she was excited.
“Sorry.” Sally put her hand over her mouth and giggled.
“I was just trying to figure out how I could come visit you.”
“You were?” Charlie asked, surprised but incredibly happy. “Couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
“No, I wanted to talk to you.” She moved away from the desk. “If this isn’t a good time, it could wait until tomorrow.”
“We were just going home. Lilly is working until eight. I usually come by and pick her up.” He looked at his watch, “That gives us a few hours to talk.”
“Great.” She pointed to the elevator. “I need to run back to my room and get my purse and a coat.”
“We can wait,” Sally told her.
“Thanks, Sally.” Penny looked at Charlie for confirmation, and he nodded, too shocked to say much else. What had happened to make her suddenly want to see him? If he wasn’t mistaken, she’d been asking Vanessa behind the desk how to get a ride to his cabin. Not an easy place to get to in this weather.
“You look all googly-eyed,” Sally told him.
Charlie snapped back to the present, aware he’d been staring out of the window as he waited for his mate. “Sorry. I’m a little confused, that’s all.”
“About what?” Sally asked. “Penny is your mate, you are meant to be together. So what is there to be confused about?”
“Penny isn’t a shifter, so she doesn’t feel the mating bond in the same way I do.”
“Really? Because she looked at you with googly-eyes, too.” Sally giggled at his shocked expression. “Are you blind?”
“I think I must be.” He laughed. “It’s a good thing I have you to watch out for me.”
Sally turned to him and threw her arms around his waist. “You usually watch over me.”
He placed his hand on her head. “I always will, Sally.”
“Even though you have a mate?” Sally asked, looking up at him.
“Even though I have a mate.”
“I’m ready.” Penny strode across the lobby toward them, her face flushed with excitement.
Charlie could not help but smile back at her. “You look...” He was lost for words.
“Festive.” Penny looked down at her Christmas sweater.
“I like it,” Sally gave her approval. “It’s a like the Christmas card I gave to Julius.”
“Oh, that’s why you’re still here,” Penny blurted out.
“Did you think we’d been waiting for you?” Charlie teased.
“No, I thought maybe you were waiting for Lilly. But since she doesn’t get off work until eight.” Penny shrugged. “A girl can hope.”
“We were eating cake in Julius’s office.” Sally slipped her hand into Penny’s and guided her toward the door.
“Ah, so you got your Christmas wish.” Penny turned to watch Charlie as he exited the hotel behind them. He paused to hold the door open for an elderly lady, but his eyes were fixed on his mate. He sure had gotten his Christmas wish. She was standing there right in front of him.
“No, cake isn’t my Christmas wish.” Sally shook her head as they waited for Charlie.
“So what is your Christmas wish?” Penny asked.
“I kind of already got it when Mommy got her new job. She studied so hard and I know it makes her happy.” Sally held out her free hand to Charlie. “And I want us all to be happy. And now that Charlie’s got you, he’s happy, too.”
“Are you happy, Sally?” Charlie asked as he led them across the parking lot to his truck.
“Yes. As long as Santa comes. I did also wish for a puppy,” Sally confided in Penny. “But Mom and Charlie said they take a lot of looking after.”
“I always wanted a puppy, too,” Penny told Sally.
“Didn’t your mom and dad let you have a puppy? Even though you live in a big house with four chimneys.” Sally looked mildly shocked and Charlie began to feel a little outnumbered. He and Lilly had always said no to a puppy because with Lilly working and studying while they both looked after Sally, there was little time for a puppy. They had explained to Sally that puppies take a lot of time and care since there was so much to teach them.
“No, my parents traveled a lot with my dad’s work. There was never time.” Penny smiled sadly. “But sometimes we have to make time for the things we want.”
“You’re a grown-up now. Can’t you have a puppy of your own?” Sally asked.
Penny thought about it for a moment. “I suppose so.”
“When you come and live with us, we could share a puppy.” Sally’s solution was both simple and heartbreaking.
“But we might not always all live together,” Charlie told Sally gently.
“Why?” Sally asked as he opened the truck door and she climbed inside.
“Lots of reasons.” Charlie closed his eyes briefly. He hated the thought of Sally not being there, of not watching her grow and blossom into the beautiful, clever young lady she was destined to be.
“Like?” Sally pressed for answers, her face serious.
“What if your mom gets a job teaching in another town? Or she might meet someone and want to live with him. Or...lots of reasons.” Charlie didn’t have anything else to say, his throat tightened, and he struggled to breathe.
“Hey, are you okay?” Penny asked gently.
He nodded, not wanting her to see how torn up he was at the thought of Sally and Lilly leaving. “I’m good.”
“Mommy has a job in Bear Creek.” Sally was not about to let this go. “And if she did meet someone, we could just build a house next door to yours. That way the puppy could have two homes. Just like Sara Davis does. She’s in my class at school. Her parents spl
it up.”
Charlie nodded. That wasn’t a bad idea. There was plenty of room to build another cabin next to his. It would be a good solution, whether Lilly met a man or not. But how would Penny feel with them living so close?
“It’s a good idea,” Penny said, leaning forward and whispering in his ear. “We would all get our Christmas wish.”
“Am I your Christmas wish?” he asked, looking down at her.
“You are. Although I do have more than one.”
“Do I get to know what they are?” Charlie gave her a hand up into the truck.
“Maybe. Later.” Penny put her seatbelt on, and Charlie ran around to the other side of the truck.
“Can I have hot chocolate and watch a movie when we get home?” Sally asked as they left the hotel parking lot.
“Haven’t you had enough sugar?” Charlie asked. He slowed down and carefully turned onto the road leading toward Bear Creek. The ice on the roads was melting as the temperature rose, bringing its own problems. With his precious cargo of Sally and Penny, he took extra care navigating the winding road.
“Maybe.” Sally gave him a grin. “But it is a kind of celebration.”
“Is it?” Penny asked.
“Yes, the end of school and the beginning of you and Charlie’s mating bond.” Sally looked up at Penny. “The mating bond is the strongest thing in all the world.”
“Is it? Did Charlie tell you that?” Penny smiled at Charlie, who shook his head.
“No, Mommy told me when I asked if she and Charlie were going to get married.” Sally’s innocent conversation was news to Charlie.
“Why did you think we would get married?” Charlie asked.
“Because you and Mommy live together with me. I thought we were like other families and that you and Mommy would get married. But Mommy told me that’s not how things work when you are a shifter.” Sally paused for breath. “She said that you were waiting for someone special. You were waiting for your mate because you share a mating bond with her, and no other woman would do.”
“Wow.” Penny locked eyes with Charlie. “Is that true?”
“Yes, it is.” He nodded, not sure what else to say.
“Because you are a shifter.” Penny held his gaze. So that’s what had changed, she knew about shifters, someone had told her.
But who? And what exactly had they said?
“Because I am a shifter.” He turned onto the trail leading to the cabin and parked the truck. Sally was itching to get inside, and he opened the door and climbed out. She scrambled over his seat and ran to the porch, where she waited by the door. “Are you okay about everything?”
“I’m not sure,” Penny admitted. “But I am intrigued.”
“That’s why you are here. You are intrigued.” Charlie looked hopeful.
“No, there’s more to it than that. Why don’t we go inside and we can talk?”
Charlie nodded his head. Although part of him was worried what exactly Penny wanted to talk about and how it might affect their relationship. However, he was excited, too. Penny knew about shifters. All about shifters, if he wasn’t mistaken.
At last, he could show her his lion and declare his undying love for her.
Chapter Fifteen – Penny
“You keep looking at me all funny.” Charlie returned to the kitchen after delivering a hot chocolate and marshmallows, just like her mom liked it, to Sally.
“Do I?” Penny sipped her own hot chocolate as she sat at the kitchen table.
“You know you do.” He sat down across the table from her and drank his coffee. He was itching to know what she knew, and she’d enjoyed watching him squirm. “What happened? Because between me dropping you off and us meeting in the hotel lobby, something did.”
“I met with a friend for coffee. I mentioned the mating bond, she thought I knew everything and told me about shifters.” A smile spread over her face. “I was shocked, I have to admit, when she told me people can change into animals.”
“You believed her. Without seeing it?” Charlie asked.
“I trust her. And it made a few things drop into place.” Penny placed her cup down on the table with care. “So it is true.”
“I don’t know what exactly she told you. But...yes, I can change into an animal,” he confirmed.
“What kind of animal?” Penny leaned forward. “And how does it work?”
“A lion...”
“Whoa.” Penny’s eyes widened. “An actual lion. With a mane and everything?”
He sat back in his chair, looking relaxed as he burst out laughing. “Yeah, a mane and everything.”
“How?” She placed the flat of her hands on the table, feeling lightheaded. “How does something like that even work?”
Her legs went shaky. Was this one massive joke on her? After Laurence had set her up so easily to marry him, was this the next phase in how to make Penny look like a fool? Her face paled.
“Hey.” He reached for her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She smiled weakly.
“You can tell me anything.” Charlie rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, sending heat racing through her body.
“After Laurence, it’s hard to trust people,” she admitted sadly.
“And finding out that people can shift into animals stretches reality just a little too much for you right now.” He looked at her levelly. “What if I showed you?”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “That would work for me.”
“Come on.” He kept hold of her hand and pulled her to her feet. “We’re just going out to the barn, Sally.”
Sally immediately poked her head around the sitting room door. “Are you going to show Penny your lion?”
“I can’t keep anything from you, can I?” Charlie asked.
“I’ll get my coat and boots.” Sally slipped out of the sitting room and ran to the door, where she plonked herself down on the floor and pulled on her boots. She was up on her feet and shoving her arm into a warm coat before Penny had even put her feet in her boots, which she’d left drying in the hallway. “Ready.”
“Sally loves my lion,” Charlie told Penny.
“He is so cute,” Sally told Penny. “He’s so soft and cuddly.” She opened and closed her fingers as if she were scrunching paper.
“I can’t wait to meet him.” Although her stomach flipped over at the thought of being up close to a lion. “As long as he is friendly.”
“He’s really friendly,” Sally enthused as they went outside into the cold afternoon air and headed toward the barn. “He’s like a giant pussycat.”
“Don’t let Sally fool you,” Charlie said. “If anyone threatens us, or anyone we care about, he would not be a pussycat.”
“I believe you.” Penny wished she could unleash Charlie’s lion on Laurence and frighten him into not selling his story. But she didn’t want Charlie to be dragged into the situation any more than he already was. If Penny was his mate and shifters mated for life, then he was already more involved than she’d like. He would have to deal with the fallout of the article alongside her.
“Okay. You two ladies stand there,” Charlie instructed.
“Penny is a Lady. Not me,” Sally pointed out.
“No, you are a young lady.” Penny took hold of Sally’s hand. “We’re ready.”
“Here we go.” Charlie walked about ten feet away and turned to face them. “Don’t panic.”
“I won’t,” Penny assured him.
“I’ll look after Penny,” Sally told him.
“Okay.” Charlie stood facing them, his expression a little out of focus. Then the whole of him went out of focus, until he’d completely disappeared from the barn.
“What the...” Penny took a step forward, but Sally pulled her back.
“One second.” Sally waited expectantly.
“Wow!” Penny put her hand to her mouth as a large shadow loomed up, its features slowly coming into focus until a large lion stood where Charlie had been
only seconds before. “He really is a lion.”
“He’s so cute.” It was hard for Penny to think of the massive creature standing before her as Charlie.
“I’m not sure cute is the word I’d use.” Penny held back while Sally rushed forward and flung her arms around the lion, who wore a resigned expression. She couldn’t help but smile as Sally buried her face in Charlie’s thick mane.
She tilted her head on one side. Maybe he was kind of cute. For a lion.
For a lion. What was she thinking? This guy, the guy who said they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together, could turn into a lion. By magic. Maybe that was one good thing, there was no skin shedding, hair sprouting out from everywhere metamorphosis. Instead, he slipped out of this world to be replaced by a lion.
“Come say hello.” Sally beckoned to her and Penny took a step forward on stiff legs. “He won’t hurt you.”
“You say that, but he has mighty big teeth and claws.” Penny held out her hand to the lion, who lifted his head and sniffed her, his mouth opened a little, his tongue lolling out. As she placed her hand on his nose, his tongue stuck out further, and he licked her.
Sally giggled. “He likes you.”
“Glad to hear it.” Braver now, Penny got closer to the lion and stroked his back with her hands. His fur was soft, his body well-muscled, just like the human side of Charlie. “He is amazing.”
“Betcha never thought you’d ever be this close up to a lion.” Sally grinned at Penny as she moved around the lion, touching him, caressing him, trying to prove to herself that this wasn’t some kind of illusion.
“Not in my wildest dreams,” Penny admitted. “How does he change back?”
Sally moved back from the lion and shrugged. “He shifts back when he wants to. They are connected, the same person.”
The air began to shimmer, and the lion faded away. Penny watched closely, trying to figure out if this was some kind of trick, but by the time Charlie stood in front of her in his human form, she was convinced this was all real. There was no way the image of the lion could have been projected. If it had, she wouldn’t have been able to stroke him and touch him.
The Lion Loves a Lady Page 10
